{"id":105530,"date":"2025-08-30T00:34:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-30T00:34:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/105530\/"},"modified":"2025-08-30T00:34:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-30T00:34:12","slug":"jacques-villeneuve-delivers-shocking-proposal-for-mirrorless-f1-cars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/105530\/","title":{"rendered":"Jacques Villeneuve delivers shocking proposal for mirrorless F1 cars"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Former Formula 1 driver and 1997 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve has issued a controversial proposal that he believes would make modern F1 racing better: Get rid of wing mirrors!<\/p>\n<p>According to Villeneuve, a lack of these mirrors would force drivers to develop more responsible driving habits, which would naturally improve racing.<\/p>\n<p>Jacques Villeneuve\u2019s shocking proposal: Get rid of mirrors!<\/p>\n<p>Formula 1 has finally returned after its mandatory summer shutdown, and the circus is preparing to revitalize its championship showdown at Zandvoort for the penultimate Dutch Grand Prix in the modern era.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s much to discuss as we head into the final 10 races of the season. Will it be Oscar Piastri or Lando Norris taking the World Championship? Can Lewis Hamilton revive his dismal debut at Ferrari? Can Red Bull Racing make a major turnaround?<\/p>\n<p>But one talking point on Sky Sports F1\u00a0centered around the use of wing mirrors, particularly as it pertained to a Verstappen vs. Hamilton move at the Hungarian Grand Prix that was referred to the stewards after the race but that ultimately failed to result in a penalty for either driver.<\/p>\n<p>It was during this discussion that former F1 driver turned pundit Jacques Villeneuve made a bold proposition: Get rid of wing mirrors, and those kinds of moves simply won\u2019t happen!<\/p>\n<p>More from the Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix:<\/p>\n<p>\ud83d\udc49\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.planetf1.com\/news\/franco-colapinto-not-met-expectations-flavio-briatore-casts-doubts-alpine-2026-seat\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Colapinto has not met \u2018expectations\u2019 as Flavio Briatore casts doubts on Alpine 2026 seat<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\ud83d\udc49\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.planetf1.com\/news\/max-verstappen-causes-confusion-with-unusual-off-chequered-flag-fp1-dutch-gp\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Verstappen causes confusion with unusual off, after the chequered flag in FP1<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Villeneuve\u2019s argument comes down to responsibility. In the past, drivers could see very little in their mirrors, which forced them to drive with care. Now, that\u2019s not the case.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe difference is, mirrors weren\u2019t used to block other drivers,\u201d Villeneuve explained on Sky Sports F1. \u201cThey were just used to avoid when you\u2019re in traffic.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNow, the drivers use them only to block.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Villeneuve\u2019s solution to the problem? It\u2019s simple.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo we should remove the mirrors,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019d have better racing. If you overtake someone and you know he has not seen you, you won\u2019t put yourself in a situation where you\u2019ll be run off the track. And the driver in front won\u2019t run you off the track on purpose, either, or block you.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt would end up being safer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He did, however, point out one downside: \u201cIt would be worse when you came out of the pits.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Villeneuve continued, \u201cWhen you drive, a lot of drivers, you see them overtaking and just putting their front wheels at the rear wheels [and] think, \u2018OK, he\u2019s seen me; he will let me in.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf he didn\u2019t think the driver had seen him, he would never put his wheels in the wrong position.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Interestingly, this isn\u2019t the first time Villeneuve has made this bold, anti-mirror proposition! And his argument has remained the same for over two decades.<\/p>\n<p>Back in 2003, when he was driving for BAR, Villeneuve told Autosport\u00a0in August of that year, \u201cIf you don\u2019t have mirrors, you cannot block.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you\u2019re following someone and he doesn\u2019t have mirrors, you know he hasn\u2019t seen you, so you know he will turn into the corner.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn a race situation, it would be 10 times safer without mirrors. You just mind your own business, like the motorbike guys.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In fact, Villeneuve told Autosport that he had raised the idea of banning wing mirrors during that time period, but his proposal was turned down as \u201ceverybody just laughs, of course.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Now in 2025, the Canadian champion advocated not only for removing mirrors, but for getting rid of radio and telemetry \u2014 and in his eyes, there\u2019s only one driver who could thrive with those restrictions: Max Verstappen.<\/p>\n<p>Drivers, Villeneuve argued, should \u201cjust work and discuss with the engineer and go by feel.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd one driver that would stand out would be Max, because he\u2019s still working this way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Despite his commitment to the belief that Formula 1 racing would be better without mirrors, it\u2019s quite unlikely that the FIA will consider it a legitimate suggestion for improving the sport.<\/p>\n<p>Read next:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.planetf1.com\/news\/max-verstappen-responds-to-former-red-bull-insiders-claim-of-measured-50k-fine\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Max Verstappen responds to former Red Bull insider\u2019s claim of \u2018measured\u2019 50k fine<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former Formula 1 driver and 1997 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve has issued a controversial proposal that he believes&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":105531,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[64,63,15263,817,813,816,818,13207,44,4702,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-105530","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-formula-1","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-dutch-grand-prix","11":"tag-f1","12":"tag-formula-1","13":"tag-formula1","14":"tag-home-page","15":"tag-jacques-villeneuve","16":"tag-news","17":"tag-sky-f1","18":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105530"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105530\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}